Sunday, 22 November 2009

Journalist-blogger Jean Quatremer, quoting anonymous sources, says Jean-Claude Juncker has been prevented as European Council President by the individual veto of Sarkozy.

Isabel Oakeshott and Jonathan Oliver from The Sunday Times, quoting a "well-placed insider", know that former Commissioner and member of the UK government Lord Mandelson was still running on Thursday for the job as EU "Foreign Minister" but was called back by Brown who seems to need him in his government.

In fact, I rather believe both news stories, but they both also show the problem of classical journalism: Working with anonymous sources in reporting (and not just as background) - as necessary as they might be - reduces credibility, at least in my eyes.

I'd rather go for transparency and quotable sources than to opt for the story relying on anonymous sources, but how difficult this can be I have described here.